Ten blocks of streets, fresh sewer lines and stormwater bioswales sit ready just south of Des Moines' East Village, but the 39-acre portion of the Market District still has no finished buildings standing on it. The land, wedged between Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and the existing East Village, has been cleared and wired for development, yet the neighborhood envisioned there remains largely a collection of proposals, financing deals and letters of interest.
A Decade-Spanning Vision Takes Shape, On Paper
According to The Des Moines Register, reporter Kate Kealey examined why a district the city calls primed and ready still has so little built on it. A 39-acre portion lies within the broader 260-acre Market District. The city's plan, described on dsm.city, calls for a mostly walkable urban neighborhood mixing housing, offices and hospitality for a range of household types and income levels, along with more than 7,500 parking stalls spread across on-street spaces, surface lots and structures, plus a planned public square called Market Street Plaza anchored by neighborhood-focused retail.
Much of the groundwork is already in the ground. Old buildings in the area have been razed, and new sewers, streets, utilities and bioswales have been installed, the same report notes. Two Rivers Park, a roughly 9-acre site between the Des Moines River and the Market District, was completed in fall 2025, and MidAmerican officials have said they hope the park will help attract residential, retail and restaurant development to the area, according to WHO 13.
A $47 Million Apartment Project Waits on Construction
The clearest sign of forward motion is a proposed six-story, 258-unit apartment building planned for a vacant 3.3-acre lot at 301 SE Fourth St. The project, known as South Market Apartments, is estimated to cost $47 million and would mark the first building constructed in the section of the Market District being redeveloped by District Developer LLC, a consortium that includes developer James Cownie's JSC Properties, MidAmerican Energy Co., Knapp Properties and developer Tim Rypma, among others, the report states.
All 258 units would be income-restricted, and the project received $25 million in February 2026 through Iowa's 4% low-income housing tax credit and bond award financing program. Construction is expected to begin in late 2026 with completion by late 2028.
Bigger Numbers, Mixed Timelines
Zoom out and the ambitions grow larger. Des Moines is embarking on what's described as a $700 million transformation focused on 10 blocks just south of the East Village, according to KCCI. The plan is projected to accommodate 3,000 people and generate nearly $2 billion in economic benefits, with housing, hotels, retail and commercial buildings on the drawing board, including a $61 million hotel, residential and retail project, an $85 million multifamily building and a separate $50 million hotel.
Exactly when any of that breaks ground depends on who you ask. A January 2025 report found two plots of Market District land under contract with developers, with construction on one of them possibly starting as early as that fall, while two additional lots had only letters of interest from prospective developers. KCCI's more recent reporting instead describes developers hoping to begin construction by the end of 2026, pending a vote on state financial aid expected early the following year — a timeline that doesn't fully square with the earlier fall start date.
